Dinging out the dent on the fender is just one step of the journey

The only way I have any hope of completing this 1954 Chevy truck
restoration before my sixteen year old daughter is a grandmother, is to take it
on as a series of small manageable projects that can be completed one at a time.
A famous early Chinese mechanic, Lao-tzu, had a saying "A journey of a thousand
miles begins with a single step". Only
9,950 more to go on this project and the next step on this journey is the body work.

The truck was a working truck, used by a rancher
in Montana and has plenty of rust on all the body parts. The good news is that
because of the dry climate, it did not rot out with rust like it would in
Alabama. Since the truck was actually used by cowboys, the fenders
definitely show the wear and tear - no bullet holes or spur marks, but plenty
of dings, dents and for the advanced mechanic's in the audience - boo boo's.

Since I don't know anything about body work, I did what all
good managers do when challenged by ignorance - call a meeting. Once convened, everyone gave the fenders a look and said;
no problem, just bang it out, easy, take your time, and my favorite "it will be
fun". You get what you pay for.

As I will be doing the work, it means that I have to learn
the skill of metal bumping. If I could
just get a radioactive chipmunk to bite me, I could transform into Metal Man
and repair fenders with my teeth. But it was not to be, we have two cats that
keep the chipmunks in check so, I am going to have to man up and learn how to
do it.

Being resourceful, I get on the internet and watch a few YouTube
videos on how to repair fender dents. I even find the bible of Metal Men. This
book was published in 1931 and apparently tells everything one needs to know
about metal bumping. A friend of mine loaned me the body shop tools and it is
off to the races. Now I am not making this the up, I start by dinging on my
dolly. Seriously, this is the proper technique - it's in the bible. Basically you
hold a dolly, which is a curved metal block, behind the fender and then hit the
outside of the fender with a hammer to remove the dent. It looks a lot easier in the videos, but I eventually
get the hang of it and start to ding out the dents.

You need to put your kids to bed for this part - the
advanced metal bumping method is to "ding off your dolly". Believe me this is not for the faint of heart
and a technique that is hard to master. Although
the front fenders were in fairly good shape, I have spent the last four weekends in my back yard dinging on and off my dolly, sanding, grinding, and
using chemicals to etch, dissolve and encapsulate the rust. I am expecting a
call any day now from the EPA.

This body work is very monotonous and tedious therefore I am
developing a Zen attitude about the whole process. I can't wait to take the
next step on this journey.